Mumbai: All lines on this route are mum - bureaucratic behemoth needs a point of contact

Part of the Gokhale bridge, which carries motorists and pedestrians over the railway line in Andheri, collapsed on Tuesday, sending the clutch of authorities that (are supposed to) manage Mumbai's delicate infrastructure scrumming to keep their names out of the mess.

'The bridge didn't figure on the railways' list of dangerous bridges,' declared the BMC. They tried to fix it but were chased away by the railways, which claimed jurisdiction, the claims go.

It was a routine rhetoric: calm before the tragedy, afterwards the radio silence, then the repudiation of responsibility. The aftermath of the incident spurred Bombay High Court to chide the city authority on Wednesday for passing the buck: "You can't let people die and say 'This is not my responsibility'."

Experts agree. "Coordination should be the primary concern during a disaster. But they see whom to blame," said DM Sukhtankar, former BMC commissioner. "The railways blame BMC and vice versa. Instead of seeing where the problem lies, a blame game ensues."

The dynamic is at play between various agencies when "responsibilities are not well-defined," said Sukhtankar.

DNA looks at where these definitions get stretched or erased. We also look at how various authorities in charge of the city approach a calamity, on their own, rather than talking to each other.